


holding out for a hero

by oddeyejinsol



Category: LOONA (Korea Band)
Genre: F/F, yes it's the hero fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-19
Updated: 2019-04-19
Packaged: 2020-01-16 13:33:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,415
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18522574
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oddeyejinsol/pseuds/oddeyejinsol
Summary: kim jiwoo is just a normal girl who's stuck in a project with her lazy classmate, jungeun. except that she's also a superhero who fights crime, and finds a rival in the tawny owl, a notorious vigilante.





	holding out for a hero

**Author's Note:**

> this was based off a prompt from @lipperbros on twitter and i just could not get it out of my mind. enjoy!  
> twt: @oddeyejinsol  
> cc: curiouscat.me/oddeyejinsol

_ TAWNY OWL STRIKES AGAIN!  _ _ — Vigilante villain blows up fracking site. _

Jiwoo groaned aloud at the headline. Great. Her morning was ruined already. 

“What’s up?” Sooyoung asked from the couch, munching on an apple. Jiwoo wordlessly threw the newspaper across the room to her, and Sooyoung barely caught it.

“Who the hell still reads print newspapers?” Sooyoung asked, looking at the thing with disdain.

“It’s her again!” Jiwoo exclaimed. “Did you see how she left them a threatening message? And she calls herself a hero! Honestly, it’s an insult to all of us!”

Sooyoung took a thoughtful bite. “I mean, nobody was hurt, and she’s right about how they’re ruining the environment. Besides, a power is a power. The government doesn’t care how you use them, you’re all classed the same.”

Jiwoo glared at her. “Yes, we’re all aware of that, which is why we hide our identities.” Being exposed as a Super wouldn’t be the worst thing, but you would be forced to register yourself and your powers within the government, and even though it wasn’t an official fact, people whispered that sometimes they’d carry you off an use you as human warfare. 

Thankfully, Jiwoo’s power was super strength, which was one of the most common ones. Still, Supers were quite rare, and not many chose to use their powers publicly. Jiwoo had always had a passion for good, though, and she did what she could as a struggling college student.

“Wait a second. It’s too quiet,” she said, realizing that she had been actually able to hear herself think for three minutes. “Where are the twisted sisters?”

“They stayed up all night playing with Olivia’s new game thing and just got to sleep like an hour ago,” Sooyoung said with a chuckle.

“Doesn’t Chaewon have school or something?” Jiwoo asked, to which Sooyoung just shrugged. Jiwoo checked her watch. “Ah, speaking of which, I need to get going for class. Okay, I’ll see you guys at dinner!” She gave Sooyoung a quick hug on the way out and mentally prepared herself for the day. She may have super strength, but she didn’t know if she had the strength to get through this class.

Meanwhile, on the opposite side of the city, Jungeun was just getting home. She tried to make as little noise as possible, but when she opened the door, Yerim was sitting on the couch, clearly waiting for her.  _ Busted _ . 

“Where have you been all night? I was worried!” Yerim demanded. Jungeun instantly felt guilty, like she was being scolded by her mom. Yerim may have been the youngest out of them, but it often felt like she was the oldest.

“Sorry! One party led to another, then I went and got breakfast,” Jungeun explained. “It was no big deal.”

Yerim held up her phone screen, allowing Jungeun to read the article headline on the screen. _Oh, fuck_. Yerim sternly said, “Oh sure, I was just sitting around all night thinking that you finally blew yourself up, but yeah, it wasn’t a big deal. What the hell, Jungie!”

Jungeun instantly went to the girl’s side, giving her a big hug. “Aw, I’m really sorry, Yerimmie. You know I have full control over my powers, though, and fire can’t hurt me.”

“Yeah, but there’s all sorts of chemicals at those sites that can!” Yerim argued, but leaned into the hug. “Jungeun, please promise me you’ll stop doing such risky stuff. Or at least stop leaving messages with your name literally signed on, for God’s sake.”

“Not my real name!” Jungeun said defensively. “And hey, I want them to know why I’m doing it. It’s not a random act of terrorism, it’s  _ justice  _ for the earth! They’re ruining it for their own greed, Yerim, I can’t just sit by and watch them do it. Neutrality in the face—”

“—of evil is complicity, yes,” Yerim said patiently. “I get it, I really do. Can you do something less … explosion-y, then? Like, just rob a bank or something?”

“Huh...that’s not a bad idea at all!” Jungeun sprung to her feet. “I’ve gotta go do some research on corrupt CEOs…”

“Jungeun, please, I didn’t mean that seriously!” Yerim pleaded, but Jungeun had already disappeared into her room. Just then, Jinsol emerged from the opposite room, rubbing her eyes sleepily.

“Good morning, Yerim,” she said, opening the fridge. “Hey, my catfish said he was getting lonely with my new work schedule, so can I go get him a new friend? Pretty please? Also, he wants another shiny rock.”

Yerim sighed and rubbed her temples. She was literally living in a madhouse.

* * *

Jungeun managed to catch a couple hours of rest before her evening class, and thankfully the hangover was gone before then too. Even though she loved parties and chaos, she was very serious about her education. She wanted to become a lawyer so one day she could fight for justice in a legal way. Also, she was minoring in music just because it was her passion.

Despite having set an alarm she still burst into class a few minutes late, earning a dirty look from the prof. She realized the only empty seat in the class was in the front, next to … oh, for fuck’s sake. It was that girl who was clearly a musical genius and very aware of it, and was always showing off her knowledge in class. Jungeun reluctantly slid into the seat, judging the amount of the stickers on the girl’s notebook.

“Alright, look at the person beside you,” the teacher instructed, and Jungeun did so. Huh, the girl was kind of cute up close. Jungeun had only ever seen the back of her head, really, but the view was definitely not bad from here. 

“This will be your project partner for the second half of the semester,” the teacher continued, eliciting hushed whispers. “Your task is to write and record a song at least 3 minutes long of any genre, as long as it features a chorus, verses, and a bridge. You will use class time for the project, but can meet outside of that if you’d like. Please start getting to know one another!”

The class erupted into chatter, and Jungeun stuck out her hand, deciding to be nice. “Hi, I’m Jungeun,” she said.

The girl shook her hand, her grip surprisingly strong. “Hi, I’m Jiwoo! I have a bit of experience arranging chords, so this shouldn’t be too hard of a project.”

“Oh, cool,” Jungeun said, already bored of her bragging. “I’m a singer, so if you wanna do the music, I can sing.”

“Well, I’m a singer too,” Jiwoo said, sitting up straighter. “I have perfect pitch.”

Jungeun forced a smile. “Then it’ll just have to be a duet, won’t it?”

* * *

After school, Jungeun sat in the living room with her roommates, all of them eating the lunch Jungeun had cooked. “I can’t believe I’m paired with her for the rest of the semester,” Jungeun groaned. “It’s going to be such a nightmare working with her.”

“Maybe she’ll do all the work and you can just sit back and relax,” Jinsol pointed out.

“Yeah, but that’s exactly what she wants! Besides, I wanna be a part of this too,” Jungeun said, slurping the last of her soup noisily. “Okay, I’m gonna go plan that bank robbery now. Thanks for the idea, Yerim!”

“Jungeun, I’m serious! Do  _ not  _ do that,” Yerim warned. “It’s wrong, and you could go to jail!”

“The only thing that’s wrong is the rich hoarding money to get richer! Everything I steal is going to go to charity, obviously. Besides, speaking of  _ wrong _ , don’t you have a crush on that werewolf girl? Doesn’t she eat people?”

Yerim blushed instantly. “She only eats animals, and I  _ don’t _ have a crush!” Jinsol gasped, this information new to her, and Jungeun slipped away quietly as her plan worked and the two started bickering. She spent the rest of the night researching the bank she was targeting, and figured that she would hit it the next night at closing hours — less witnesses, and they’d already have the money ready for transportation to the safe.

_ Wait …  _ She retrieved her school backpack and looked at the stupid study schedule that Jiwoo had made in class. Of course, she had set up a study date that was at the exact same time. Well, she would just have to wait. Jungeun found the number Jiwoo had written on the sheet, and sent a text.

**_kimjung:_ ** _ hey, i’ve come down with food poisoning, can’t make it to tomorrow’s study date. can we reschedule? the day after, same time? _

**_jiw00:_ ** _ … OK _

Jiwoo’s eyebrows furrowed as she texted back. “I can’t believe my project partner flaked on me already! On our  _ first  _ study date?! I knew it was a bad sign when she came late to class.”

“Nerd,” Chaewon coughed, not looking up from her phone.

“Don’t you have some eggs to focus on?” Jiwoo said.

“They’re not ready yet,” Chaewon said dismissively. “Hey, did you know some girl from school found out about Olivia’s power?”

Jiwoo gasped, her attention completely drawn. “ _ What _ ? What the hell happened?!”

“Well, she was feeding the squirrels in the park and caught Olivia snacking on one,” Chaewon said, now also fully invested in the gossip. “Ollie tried to say it was just an iron deficiency, but the girl saw her fangs. Anyway, Ollie freaked but the girl said her two best friends were Supers and she’s not a snitch, so.”

“Gosh, that must have been scary for her,” Jiwoo said. “For them both, honestly. Didn’t we talk about not wolfing out in broad daylight? Where is she now?” 

“I think she’s hanging out with the girl, actually,” Chaewon said.

Jiwoo frowned. “I...don’t like the sound of that. Even if the girl said she wouldn’t say anything, it’s really not good to have someone know your power...wait, what’s that smell? Chaewon, the eggs!”

“Oh, fuck.  _ SOOYOUNG! _ ”

* * *

The next evening, Jiwoo was using the opportunity of Jungeun canceling to practice her lower range, when a notification from her phone caught her eye. She had alerts on for a secret website where they reported Super activity in the area.  She gasped when she read the message. There had been a sighting of the Tawny Owl! This was her chance to stop her!

Jiwoo hurried to her closet where she kept her Supersuit. There was a mysterious woman, Vivi, who designed high-tech Supersuits that sold for an exclusive price. It was an excellent investment, though; the suit fit Jiwoo and moved with her perfectly, and it actually intensified her strength. It also came with a full mask that hid your face and altered your voice, and she had even gotten it customized to look like a cute penguin. 

Using the cover of the night, Jiwoo followed tactical hidden pathways to the location where Tawny had been spotted. It led her to a small street not too far from her home. There were several large shops and a mall, but Jiwoo’s instinct told her to head to the bank at the end of the street, even though it was past closing hours. She peered through a window first, and felt her heart jump at the sight of the scene inside.

It was the Tawny Owl. Jiwoo had never seen her in person, only in blurry civilian photos, but it was definitely her. She recognized Vivi’s handiwork, too; Tawny was wearing a bright red feathered suit with a scarily realistic owl mask, and her hands were both engulfed in balls of fire, clearly threatening the bank employees who were hurriedly emptying stacks of money into a large sack.

Jiwoo took a deep breath and launched herself at the window, kicking through it and rolling expertly into a defensive crouching position. “Stop right there!”

Some of the employees screamed, and Tawny turned to look at her, clearly startled. “Who the fuck are you?” she demanded, her voice also distorted by the mask. 

“I—that doesn’t matter! I know who you are, and you need to stop terrorizing these people,” Jiwoo said with as much force as she could.

Clearly her intimidation tactics didn’t work, because Tawny just laughed. “You’re sweet, but I’m not terrorizing these people. This money isn’t coming out of their pockets, and trust me, the fat cats won’t miss it. You! Did I say you could stop?” This last part she directed at the bank employees, who stopped gawking at the two girls and continued shoving the money into the sack.

“Alright, if you won’t stop, I’ll make you!” Jiwoo yelled, breaking into a run towards Tawny. Quick as a flash, Tawny sent one of her fireballs slamming into the ground right in front of Jiwoo. The blast blew her back and she hit the wall,  _ hard _ , creating a crater and sending out a burst of rubble. One of the flying glass pieces from the broken window scraped across her cheek, drawing blood.

“I’m not going to fight you! Back the fuck off!” Tawny said warningly. “Hey, hurry  _ up _ !”

While Tawny was momentarily distracted with yelling at the workers again, Jiwoo summoned all her strength to break off a chunk of the wall and throw it at Tawny, who spotted it coming and managed to dodge just in time.

“Oh for f— whatever, this isn’t worth it!” Suddenly two large mechanical wings unfolded from the back of Tawny’s suit and she took off into the air, using a blast of fire from her feet to propel her further. She grabbed the half-full bag of money from the bank teller’s hands and flew out of the hole Jiwoo had made in the wall. Jiwoo tried to make a grab for her, but she swooped so low that Jiwoo had to duck and roll to avoid having her head sheared off by those wings.

“Shit!” Jiwoo jumped up and looked through the wall, but Tawny was already flying off, far too fast and high up for Jiwoo to reach her. Also, she had become aware of the rapidly approaching sound of police car sirens. 

She turned to the bank employees, who were all staring at her in wide-eyed shock. “Sorry guys! Hope everyone’s okay!” she said hurriedly, before taking off through the wall as well, but in the opposite direction headed home.

It wasn’t twenty minutes before her phone beeped with another notification.

_ BREAKING — Tawny Owl robs bank, witnesses say she may have had an acquaintance who helped with the vandalization of the bank. _

“Fuck!”

Jungeun was equally pissed about the article, and she wouldn’t let Jinsol hear the end of it the next day. 

“Can you believe this?” she groaned, lying on the bed as Jinsol tended to her aquarium. “They seriously called this girl my acquaintance?! She literally appeared out of nowhere and fucked up my whole plan!”

“Okay, watch your tone, you’re stressing out Finn,” Jinsol said, tapping the glass comfortingly. “And your plan wasn’t fucked up! You got more than enough money to help the orphanage. You did good, Jungie.”

“Clearly,  _ she _ didn’t think so, whoever she was,” Jungeun grumbled. “It’s always those super strength idiots that think it’s their job to save the world.”

“Just cause we have cool powers doesn’t mean we should put others down, even if they have lame ones,” Jinsol said. 

“Ugh, if I wanted a lecture I would’ve gone to Yerim!” Jungeun hopped off the bed with a huff. “Well, I have to go deal with my music partner anyway. Wish me luck, and hope I don’t set her on fire.”

She slammed the door on her way out, and Jinsol shared a knowing look with her fish. “Yes, she does have anger issues,” she cooed, putting in some food flakes. 

* * *

Jungeun had made sure to leave the house early, but Jiwoo had still arrived at the cafe before her. She could see the back of her bright red head through the window, but she was taken aback when she sat down across from her. The girl had a long bandage stretching across her cheekbone.

“Whoa, I don’t show up to our study date and you go and get into a fight?” Jungeun said jokingly. Jiwoo’s hand flew up to touch the bandage self-consciously, and Jungeun’s smile froze in place as the pieces started adding up in her head.  _ Holy shit. Could she be… _

“Hah! No, this didn’t even happen yesterday, it was today! I fell and cut myself on … something, I’m such a klutz, ha!” Jiwoo’s cheeks grew redder the more she babbled, only confirming Jungeun’s suspicions. “Okay, should we start with lyrics, or genre?”

Jungeun noticed the desperate subject change, but decided to play along for the time being. Besides, she wasn’t even 100% sure yet, it was just a suspicion. She needed to confirm it, then she’d figure out what to do about it. 

So, even though she was itching to tell Jinsol and Yerim, she decided to wait it out. She already had another mission planned for the next week anyway, which was to free all the puppies that a cruel dog breeder was keeping and abusing. When she went out, she made sure to ‘accidentally’ get spotted several times along the way. As she broke into the man’s house, she checked her phone and grinned at the Tawny sighting posts that were already popping up. Bingo. Now it was just a waiting game.

When the door burst open, the man jumped off the couch and pulled a gun out of his waistband, pointing it at Jungeun’s head. “Who the fuck are you?” he demanded.

Jungeun smiled, and the man dropped his weapon in shock when he saw the tips of Jungeun’s fingers burst into flames. “Your worst nightmare.”

Fifteen minutes later, the man was tied up and beaten unconscious and Jungeun was beginning to free the poor dogs from their crowded cages, when the door burst open once again. There stood Jiwoo (?) in that ridiculous suit again.

“Tawny! I’m here to… huh?” The girl blinked in surprise, looking at the strange scene before here. “Are you here to hurt these dogs? I’ll kill you, I swear!”

“Calm down, Batman,” Jungeun said, already annoyed. “I’m  _ helping  _ these dogs. This piece of shit locks them up, forces them to breed, and then sells them to dog-fighters. He’s the one you should kill. I was planning on doing that later, but if you really want to—”

“No!” the girl cried in horror. “You can’t kill him!”

“Oh my god, relax! I wasn’t really gonna kill him, just barbecue him a little and cut off his nuts,” Jungeun shrugged. “But even if I was gonna kill him, would that be so bad? He’s a terrible person.”

“So would you be if you killed someone!” the girl argued. “You’re not a hero, you’re a villain just like him!”

“Fluffy here doesn’t seem to think so,” Jungeun said, cooing gently at the freed dog who was licking her in gratitude. “You’re happy I saved you from that bad man, right, little girl?”

The girl seemed to soften a little. “Well...it is a good thing you’re saving them, I’ll agree. But you need to let him go. He’ll go to jail where he belongs, and he’ll pay for everything he did.”

“No, he’ll just run and the cops will never find him because they have bigger problems to deal with,” Jungeun said bitterly. “If I believed in the justice system, I wouldn’t have to take matters into my own hands.”

“Okay, let’s make a deal,” said the girl. “You leave here after freeing the dogs, and I’ll call the cops and stay here with him until they come. When they see this apartment, there’s no way they’ll rest until he’s rotting in prison. I’ll even go to court and testify, if I have to.”

“In that suit?” Jungeun asked, and the girl actually laughed a little. Jungeun unlocked the last cage, and sighed, thinking about the girl’s words. “Okay, you win. I won’t touch him, but you have to swear you won’t leave until you see him get carried out in handcuffs.”

The girl nodded eagerly. “Yes, I swear! I want him to pay just as much as you do, honest.”

Jungeun nodded in approval. “Okay, I’m gonna go now cause I really don’t want to be here when the cops arrive.” She gave all the dogs one last pet before suddenly leaping out of the open window. Jiwoo gasped, running to peer out of the window, and laughed in amazement when she saw Tawny’s swoop back up and into the distance, wings flapping. 

Her heart was beating at a million times per minute. She had encountered the Tawny Owl again and  _ didn’t  _ get beat up — instead, she actually talked her out of doing something bad,  _ and  _ now she was left in charge of the bad guy for the first time! She danced around the apartment as she dialed 911. Best. Day. Ever.

* * *

 

**_kimjung:_ ** _ hey, i emailed you the sample beat for the song, did you get it? _

**_jiw00:_ ** _ yeah, sorry!! i got distracted reading the news _

**_jiw00:_ ** _ did you hear an illegal dog breeder got caught and sent to jail? _

**_kimjung:_ ** _ yeah, i did… wasn’t that the tawny owl? _

**_jiw00:_ ** _ yeah...i think there was someone else there too! she helped catch the guy _

**_kimjung:_ ** _ interesting. well, good thing justice won! _

Jungeun felt a surge of excitement as she reread their texts. Okay, Jiwoo was  _ definitely  _ that super-strength girl. It was honestly kind of shocking; she never would have expected that the studious, nerdy Jiwoo would be a secret superhero in her spare time. If anything, Jungeun would have expected her to be one of those Supers that used her powers to collaborate with the government and local police force. Yeah, she was still a goody-two-shoes even when she was a hero — Jungeun was still pissed she didn’t get to torch that guy — but still, the knowledge of her secret identity kind of made Jungeun respect her more.

She had been planning to threaten to reveal Jiwoo's identity if she messed with her again, but honestly, the last operation hadn’t gone too bad. The guy was definitely going to jail, and all those puppies had been saved. Jiwoo was right; if Jungeun had just beat him up and left him, he probably would have just escaped as soon as he managed to get free of the restraints. She hated being wrong, but she could admit when someone else had the better idea.

“Hey,” Yerim said, walking into the kitchen. “Is this true?”

Jungeun glanced at the newspaper Yerim was holding up to her face.  _ TAWNY OWL GOES GOOD?  _ —  _ Famous bad girl teams up with an unknown Super to send dog breeder to jail _

“Well, I wouldn’t say I’ve gone  _ good _ , but yes, it’s true,” Jungeun said. “Remember that girl from the bank? She showed up again. I thought I was gonna have to fight her, but she talked me into leaving the guy unharmed and sending him to jail.”

Yerim’s jaw dropped. “Sorry, I’m not sure if I heard correctly. You, Kim Jungeun, actually left the justice in the hands of the law?!”

“Well, I roughed him around a bit before she showed up,” Jungeun said defensively, but Yerim shook her head.

“No, I think it’s great! See, you don’t have to always be violent to get what you want,” Yerim said enthusiastically. “Honestly, I’m really liking this girl. Maybe you guys should team up!”

“No thanks. I work alone,” Jungeun said. Just then., her phone dinged with a notification: it was Jiwoo messaging her back about the project.  _ Okay, maybe I can work with others. Sometimes. When my grades depend on it. That’s it. _

* * *

 

By the second week, Jungeun could admit the project was going pretty well. She and Jiwoo were completely done with the instrumentals, and now just had to do the writing and singing parts. She could admit that they made a good team; even though Jiwoo’s bossiness and stubborn attitude still got on her nerves, they both had a similar vision and were able to work efficiently together.

Jungeun had just finished writing the lyrics for the first part of the song and was relaxing on the couch with some way-too-sugary cereal. Their crappy TV only managed to reach the news channel and a random channel that only showed black-and-white French movies, so she had decided on the former.

She was actually beginning to get interested in the vegetable peeler they were promoting, when the news suddenly cut to an emergency broadcast.

“This is Jeon Heejin, live with all your breaking SuperNews!” the news announcer said brightly. “Right now, we’re getting reports that the downtown area is being swarmed with insects, at the hands of someone who calls himself the  _ Creepy Crawler _ !”

The footage cut to a live video from a civilian in the downtown area. The street was quite literally flooded with nasty-looking insects, causing Jungeun to put down her cereal in disgust. At the center of the chaos was a greasy-looking middle aged man who was laughing maniacally and seemingly controlling the bugs telepathically.

“Gross!” said Jinsol, who had wandered into the living room and got distracted by the news. “I’m so glad I can talk to fish, I’d be so sad if it was bugs like this dude.”

“Yeah,” Jungeun said distractedly. She wasn’t quite focusing, though, because there had been a flash of navy in the corner of the screen that had caught her eye. She kept her focus trained on that corner, and after a few minutes, she saw it again. It was undoubtedly Jiwoo in her super suit; she was trying to throw rocks at the man, but he kept anticipating her attacks and creating shields out of beetles, which he then sent flying her way.

“God  _ damn  _ it!” Jungeun hissed, running to her room. Moments later she emerged in her suit. “If Yerim asks, tell her I’m studying at the library,” Jungeun said as a goodbye before taking off out of the window, propelling herself above the buildings so she could have a clear view below. It wasn’t long before she was able to spot the ocean of insects; the people in the area had all cleared out, so it was just Jiwoo and the man. From the looks of it, Jiwoo was struggling; her suit was strong enough to block the insect bites, but there were too many of them and they were overpowering her.

“ _ Hey _ !” she yelled, perching on a rooftop. The man’s attention darted towards her, and his eyes narrowed. He flicked his wrist, and suddenly a swarm of angry bees were flying towards Jungeun. She forced herself to stay in place, letting the insects land on her, before she erupted into a giant ball of flame. She heard the man screaming  as the insects burnt to a crisp and fell off of her like snowflakes.

“No!!” he cried in anguish. “My babies!! What have you done?!” He sent another swarm, but she was ready for it and she dissolved them all in a beam of fire before they even got two feet away from her.

“I’m warning you!” she said, having to shout to be heard over the buzzing of the insects. “I can and will toast all your precious babies to a crisp if you don’t call them off right now!”

The man paused, clearly conflicted, but he relented when Jungeun shot a warning fireball into the air. “Alright!” he wailed in defeat, and suddenly all the insects scattered, pouring like water into the drains. The man himself hopped into a manhole, several hundred of his little friends following, and in a matter of minutes the street was completely empty, the sudden silence ringing in Jungeun’s ears.

“Holy  _ shit _ !!” came a gasp, and Jungeun turned in surprise. Right, she had forgotten that Jiwoo was even here. She couldn’t see the girl’s face through the mask, but Jungeun could guess the expression of awe she had on her face. She continued, “that was so badass! Thank you so much, Tawny, you saved me!”

Jungeun coughed uncomfortably. “It was just some insects, you would have saved yourself eventually,” she said dismissively. “But still, it was really stupid of you to try and take on this dude one-on-one. You need to know when to pick your battles. Besides, you should be focusing on your schoolwork, not saving the world.”

“You’re right,” Jiwoo said, subdued. “Hey, wait a second, how do you know I’m in school?”

“Uh, lucky guess. Bye now!” Jungeun took off before the conversation could progress any further, eternally thankful to Vivi for giving her wings.

When she got home, Yerim was standing in the living room with her arms crossed. Jungeun winced and took off her helmet. “Listen, I can explain—”

“I saw everything on the TV,” Yerim interrupted, and suddenly pulled Jungeun into a tight hug. “Jungie, that was amazing! I’m so proud of you. You managed to save that girl without unnecessary violence!”

“You didn’t see how I barbecued those bugs?” Jungeun asked with a laugh, but hugged her back.

“Without any unnecessary  _ human _ violence,” Yerim corrected herself. “You did a good job, Jungie.”

Jungeun smiled. “Thank you,” she said, actually meaning it. She had to admit, it felt really good when Jiwoo was looking at her like that with so much reverence in her voice. Maybe being a good person had its benefits.

Or, maybe she just liked being a hero because she was a narcissistic fucker who thrived on praise. Yeah, that was probably it.

* * *

 

Sooyoung had been watching her favorite trashy TV drama and was really irritated that the emergency broadcast happened  _ right  _ before they revealed who had a secret twin sister. The irritation faded to confusion and concern, though, when she recognized the person in the supersuit fighting off a flood of insects. 

She sent an emergency text to the group chat, and in a few moments she heard running footsteps and her two younger roommates burst out of the basement, blinking at the sudden light in their eyes. 

“That code red better be serious, cause I was just about to beat my high score,” Hyejoo said warningly. Sooyoung wordlessly pointed at the TV. The girls quickly realized what was going on and sat down next to Sooyoung, all of their eyes trained on the screen. 

They all let out a collective groan when Jiwoo fell down after a heavy bug blast. “Maybe we should go help her,” Hyejoo said, tensing. 

Yves shook her head grimly. “No, don’t endanger yourselves. Hopefully she’s smart enough to realize she’s losing and— hey, what the fuck?”

The girls watched in collective shock as Tawny flew down from the sky, challenging the Creepy Crawler. When he retreated and called off his army, they all cheered, Chaewon and Hyejoo hugging excitedly. 

“In an amazing turn of events, the Tawny Owl has appeared out of nowhere to save this lone fighter!” Jeon Heejin’s voice boomed out of the speaker. Sooyoung pressed mute. 

“Sorry Heejin, but we need to discuss,” she said. “Tawny Owl? Isn’t that the not-really-a-hero that Jiwoo’s always complaining about?”

“I thought they were fighting last week,” Chaewon mused. “Maybe last week? It’s kinda hard to keep track of time in the game room…”

Sooyoung blinked. “Okay, we’re implementing a new daily hour of going outside.”

The girls began to complain, but suddenly there was an aggressive knocking on the door. Sooyoung went to open it, and Jiwoo burst in, definitely looking worse for the wear. 

“I need to take a shower,  _ now _ ,” she said with a shudder, instantly heading to the bathroom. 

“Hey, wait!” The girls rushed after her, pressing their ears to the door. “Did we seriously just watch the Tawny Owl come and save your life?”

“It wasn’t my  _ life _ , it was just some bugs !” Jiwoo argued, turning the shower on. “And yes, she appeared out of nowhere, I don't know why. Now leave me alone, it’s going to be hours before I feel clean.”

The girls looked at each other, and Sooyoung shrugged. “Let’s give her some time.” Chaewon and Hyejoo nodded and began to sneak off, but Sooyoung grabbed them both firmly. “Nope, we’re going to the park. I wanna show you this fun thing called the sun.”

* * *

 

_ TAWNY OWL PAIRS UP — The Owl teams up with unknown Super once again to defeat the Creepy Crawler! _

“It’s not very nice that they keep calling her unknown Super,” Yerim remarked, sipping her hot chocolate. 

“Yeah, and they keep saying we’re working together when we’re obviously not,” Jungeun said. 

“Well, you literally flew out of the house to go help her,” Jinsol mused. “That sounds like working with her. Or for her, at least.”

Jungeun glared across the breakfast table. “You guys are not helping. Yerim, what’s going on today?”

“Hmm..” Yerim talked away at her iPad. Even though she didn’t have any powers, she was scarily organized, and she often helped Jungeun find possible opportunities to do (chaotic) good. “Oh no, the Kakao M building started burning down about a half hour ago … they’re saying there are injuries but no fatalities, but the fire is only getting worse and there are people stuck inside…”

Jungeun jumped to her feet, abandoning her breakfast. “Holy shit, I’m literally immune to fire! I need to go help!”

“Wait, I could really help with my water powers, but my identity…” Jinsol looked conflicted. 

“Just cut some holes out of a beanie,” Yerim piped in. The two blondes looked at each other and shrugged. Ten minutes later they were flying out the window, Jungeun carrying Jinsol like a piece of prey. Jinsol was half enjoying the ride, half screaming at the top of her lungs and scared for her life. 

The scene at the Kakao M building was pretty bad. Jungeun’s heart thudded when she saw all the cops there, but clearly the emergency was enough to unite them momentarily. An officer came up and shook both their hands when they landed.

“Ladies, I’m Officer Kim Hyunjin. Tawny, I recognize you, and you are…?”

“Uh, just a friend here to help,” Jinsol said nervously. 

Officer Kim nodded and stepped aside. “Go ahead,” she said, and they did. First Jungeun lifted Jinsol up to the higher floors to propel water onto the flames, then Jungeun herself ran in and rescued victims, her fireproof abilities allowing her to go where even the firefighters couldn’t. 

She had been working hard for hours when they announced that she had gotten the last person out. There was a huge crowd surrounding them, involving medics, reporters, and just curious civilians, and every single one of them burst into roaring applause for her. She literally felt her cheeks burning, even more so when a random reporter shoved a mic in her face and asked her to make a statement. 

“Uh…” she blinked past the glare of the cameras and saw how many other supers had gathered to help, including Jiwoo, in her disguise as well. Jungeun said into the mic, “I’d just like to thank everyone who came to help today.”

The reporters burst into a flood of questions, but suddenly a short-haired woman in a skirt suit stepped out in front of Jungeun. “All right, show’s over. Let’s give these people some time to relax, okay?”

The crowd grumbled but started to dissipate, the woman’s authority undeniable. Still, her smile was kind when she turned to the girls. “I’m Jo Haseul, Supermanager. I just wanted to thank you both for your bravery today. It was nice to see. And I don’t think I’ve ever seen you before?” She directed this at Jinsol.

“Oh, yeah, I usually don’t do stuff like this! Hi, I’m Jinsol,” she said brightly, and when Jungeun nudged her sharply, “oh shit! I mean, um— hold on—”

“Hey, it’s fine. I won’t tell,” Haseul said with a wink. “Under the circumstances that you come get coffee with me.”

Jinsol’s eyes widened even under the mask. “S-sure!” she stuttered, throwing Jungeun a shocked glance before Haseul whisked her away. Now that Jungeun was alone, she was acutely aware of all the stares she was getting, so she decided to talk to the one person she knew.

“Hi,” she said awkwardly as she approached Jiwoo. “Did you come out here to help?”

Jiwoo nodded. “Hey. Yeah, I was breaking down walls and stuff so we could get to people. Nothing like you, though…”

Jungeun laughed uncomfortably. “Don’t say that, it was a combined effort. You did your part.”

“Thanks,” Jiwoo said, but she didn’t sound totally convinced. “Speaking of doing my part, I have to go meet my school partner for a group project.”

_ Shit! That’s right, we have a study date.  _ “Oh, yeah, good luck with that!” Jungeun said, and turned on her heel. She ran home as fast as she possibly could, changed back into her civilian clothes, and ran back out to meet Jiwoo at their usual spot in the cafe. 

Jiwoo stared at her pointedly when she stumbled into her seat. “You’re fifteen minutes late,” she said, sounding like a stern mom. Jungeun was amazed at how put-together Jiwoo looked. Did she just wear normal clothes under the suit, like a reverse Superman?

“Sorry, I had some really important business to attend to,” Jungeun said. 

“Not more important than what I was doing, and I still made it on time,” Jiwoo grumbled, then wrinkled her nose. “Do you smell smoke?”

Jungeun froze. “Ah… yeah, I’m a smoker. But I’m quitting. Or trying to, at least.”

“Okay, good luck with that… anyway, let’s talk about this beat chance,” Jiwoo said, referring back to her notes. Jungeun internally sighed with relief. She needed to be careful. If she had been able to put together the puzzle pieces, Jiwoo might too.

* * *

 

**_kimjung:_ ** _ hey i’m rly sorry i have to cancel today.. _

**_kimjung:_ ** _ my friend’s goldfish died _

**_kimjung:_ ** _ i know that sounds like a fake excuse but he’s like her best friend so she’s pretty sad _

**_jiw00:_ ** _ oh that’s awful… that’s ok and send my condolences to your friend :( _

“Hey, why the sour face?” asked Chaewon, who had come out of the basement cave for more snacks. “Did your new hero girlfriend do something without you?”

Jiwoo scowled. “I like you a lot better when you’re down there. And no, Jungeun’s friend’s fish died and I feel sad for her.”

Chaewon made a sympathetic noise. “Well, I can help her, you know. A little fish would be really easy to bring back to life.”

“Oh, that would be so nice … but I don’t know if she’s cool with powers or not,” Jiwoo said. 

“Well, just ask, duh,” Chaewon said. Jiwoo had to shrug; she was right. 

**_jiw00:_ ** _ how do you feel about supers? _

**_kimjung:_ ** _?? _

**_kimjung:_ ** _ i mean they’re cool .. i have super friends _

**_jiw00:_ ** _ ok cause i have a friend who can bring things back to life, she can help your friend's fish _

**_kimjung:_ ** _ whoa… jiwoo, that would be incredible _

**_kimjung:_ ** _ yes, please. i’ll send my address  _

Within twenty minutes, Jungeun heard a knocking at the door. Jinsol, who had been crying on the couch all morning, jumped up expectantly. 

Jiwoo and Chaewon walked into the house, looking around admiringly. “Oh, I smell waffles,” Chaewon said, sniffing the air. 

“You can have all the waffles you want if you can bring Dollar back to life,” Jinsol said tearfully. Behind her back, Jiwoo mouthed,  _ Dollar?  _ Jungeun just shrugged. 

“Okay, take me to him,” Chaewon said, and Jinsol led her urgently to her room. Jiwoo and Jungeun were left alone, the atmosphere suddenly turning awkward. 

“Um, you said you play the guitar, right?” Jungeun asked. “I have one here, if you wanna check it out.”

Jiwoo brightened instantly. “Yeah, of course!” They walked into Jungeun’s room where Jiwoo sat at her desk, picking up the guitar. Jungeun leaned against desk beside her, watching as Jiwoo picked at the strings experimentally. 

“Hey, that’s our song!” Jungeun said, recognizing the melody. Jiwoo nodded and grinned, but her attention was caught by something on Jungeun’s desk. Jungeun followed her eyes and her heart nearly stopped. She had left her secret scrapbook out on the desk, the one where she cut and pasted any headlines or articles about herself. 

“Oh, wow, how embarrassing!” she practically screeched, snatching the notebook away. “Um, I’m a huge fan of the Tawny Owl. I really like her, haha!”

Jiwoo laughed. “That’s funny, I wouldn’t have pegged you as the fan girl type. But yeah, I like her too. A lot. I  _ really  _ didn’t like her in the past but … ah, feelings change, you know?”

“Yeah, I do,” Jungeun softly, looking at the girl who had just unknowingly confessed. Jiwoo caught her eye, and a strange tension began to rise as they maintained eye contact. Jungeun didn’t know why, but she was feeling the sudden urge to kiss her. 

Fortunately (or unfortunately?) the moment was broken by a scream coming from Jinsol’s room. The two girls instantly ran off, Jiwoo wondering what the hell Chaewon possibly could have done this time, but it became apparent that they were screams of joy. Jinsol was hugging Chaewon aggressively while Dollar swam around happily in the tank. 

“Thank you so much,” Jinsol sniffled. “You literally saved my little baby. I can never repay you!”

“Well, you can buy me some ramen,” Chaewon suggested. Jinsol agreed, and it somehow ended up with all the girls going out for lunch together, the two blondes getting along well and Jiwoo and Jungeun discussing their project over the food. 

Jungeun couldn’t help but let her glances at Jiwoo’s lips last a little bit longer than usual. She was glad Jinsol had interrupted them — retroactively, she didn’t think it was smart to mix personal and work lives — but that didn’t mean she could still indulge herself. Just a little.

* * *

 

Speaking of work life, their project had reached a frustrating plateau. Lately Jungeun had noticed that Jiwoo was being a little more testy than usual, barely listening to Jungeun and plowing through with her own ideas. It was the final stretch of the semester and the due date was approaching, but they were still arguing about the vocals.

“I just really think I should take the lead vocal,” Jiwoo said, in a tone that made it clear that it was not a suggestion.

“And I just really think we should split the lines equally,” Jungeun said, trying not to snap. “C’mon, it would be so predictable to have you as the lead, that’s what the teacher will be expecting.”

Jiwoo bristled. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Well, you’re always showing off in class, so we get it, you’re good at music,” Jungeun said. “It would maybe be nice to let someone else help for once.”

“I don’t need your help!” Jiwoo snapped. “Clearly I can’t take the lead in any other aspect of my life, so would you please just shut up and let me do what I actually know?”

Jungeun blinked. Oh. This clearly was not about the project.”Jiwoo, hey—”

“No, save it,” Jiwoo said, getting up from her seat abruptly. “You know what? Sing the whole thing, I don’t care. Maybe that’ll be less  _ predictable _ .” Jungeun tried to speak again, but Jiwoo was already storming off. Jungeun rubbed her temples. This is exactly why she didn’t want to get involved…

She was distracted by a notification from her phone, which she gladly looked at. She needed to go do something, take her mind off all this shit. Her blood ran cold when she saw the headline, though:  _ Another explosion ten feet away from the fracking site blown up by the Tawny Owl! _

“Shit,” she breathed, dashing out of the cafe herself. This really wasn’t her planning, though. There must have been some leftover explosives at the site that had gone untriggered until now… Her brain was on autopilot as she ran home, switched into her suit, and flew to the site.

She wanted to lay low, as she knew people probably wouldn’t be happy to see her in this moment, so she made sure to land a little bit away from the explosion site. She had barely tucked her wings away when she was suddenly tackled, hitting the ground  _ hard _ .

“I finally got you,” she heard a triumphant voice say, and she cursed internally. Of course, it would have to be Jiwoo. She was holding her facedown to the ground, her arms held tightly behind her back so all she could do was struggle.

“Let me go! I’m only here to help, I swear,” Jungeun pleaded.

“You’ve helped enough! And to think I actually thought you were going good,” Jiwoo said with disgust. “You’re going to pay for your crimes!”

“This isn’t my crime! It must have been explosives from last time,” Jungeun said desperately, noticing the faint blaring of sirens.

“Well, too bad, cause I really need a win today,” Jiwoo said, yanking on her arms harder. “People have got to stop calling me Unknown Super after I capture the Tawny Owl, right?”

“Take my mask off,” Jungeun said, seeing no other option.

“What?”

“Jiwoo, take it off!” she yelled. Jiwoo was so shocked that she didn’t even argue, instead taking the mask off as instructed. Jungeun breathed deeply as her face was exposed to the cool night air, Jiwoo’s eyes widening almost comically as she realized who was in the suit.

“Holy shit,” she breathed. “All this time?—”

“Yes, and I really need you to let me go,  _ now _ ,” Jungeun whispered, now seeing the cop cars come driving closer. “You can keep the mask, tell them that we struggled but I got away, okay? And tell them your name. No more Unknown Super bullshit.”

Clearly still processing, Jiwoo nodded and stepped back, letting Jungeun go. Jungeun wasted no time in spreading her wings and taking off, flying high enough so that nobody would be able to see her face if they saw her. 

When she walked into the apartment, Yerim was cooking dinner, but she abandoned it when she saw Jungeun’s dirty, beat-up, mask-less appearance. “Oh my god, Jungie, what happened?” she cried, instantly running up and fussing over Jungeun’s bruised cheek.

“Nothing,” Jungeun said, shoving past. Usually she would talk to Yerim about it, but now she really just needed some time alone. For the rest of the night she holed herself up in her room, working on their song until she finally finished it as the sun was coming up. She had made sure to give herself a few lines, but Jiwoo was right. She deserved the lead.

After finishing the project she fell into a deep sleep, and the first thing she did when she woke up was text Jiwoo.

**_kimjung:_ ** _ hey, i finished the project. i’ll submit it today _

**_kimjung:_ ** _ so that means we won’t have to see each other again _

**_jiw00:_ ** _ oh cool _

**_jiw00:_ ** _ im kind of _

**_jiw00:_ ** _ outside ur door tho _

Jungeun swung open the door to revel Jiwoo, standing sheepishly and holding Jungeun’s mask. “I thought you might want this,” she said.

“Ah, thanks. Come in,” Jungeun said, opening the door wider. Jiwoo walked in, moving the mask from hand to hand nervously.

“How did it go with the cops?” Jungeun asked a little awkwardly, leaning against the wall. 

Jiwoo sat on the couch and set the mask down beside her. “It went okay. I told them what you told me, and they believed it. Um, they even asked me to take a picture with the mask, for the news tomorrow.”

Jungeun smiled genuinely. “That’s really cool, Jiwoo. What name did you pick?”

Jiwoo blushed a little. “Chuu,” she said. “It’s kinda dumb, I know.”

“No, it’s really cute,” Jungeun said, Jiwoo’s blush deepening in response. Jungeun approached the girl, sitting beside her on the couch. “Listen, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have pushed so hard about the song.”

“No, it’s my fault. I was clearly projecting some insecurities… besides, I’m sorry about this,” Jiwoo said, reaching out to brush her fingers lightly against Jungeun’s bruised cheek. The soft touch felt electric, and Jungeun couldn’t help but grab her hand, holding it there.

“Um. What you said about liking the Tawny Owl … I think she really likes you too,” Jungeun said quietly. She cringed, instantly wishing she could take it back, but a bright smile took over Jiwoo’s face and she leaned across to kiss Jungeun earnestly.

It felt like fireworks were exploding behind Jungeun’s eyelids. She cupped Jiwoo’s cheek, kissing her back, unable to believe her luck. She felt incredible. 

Actually, she felt fucking super.

* * *

 

_ INTERVIEW WITH CHUU: The nation’s rising hero!  _

_ Article by Jeon Heejin. _

_ This weekend, I had the opportunity to sit down with Chuu, a Super who’s been getting quite a bit of attention lately. When she made her debut, people thought she was working with the Tawny Owl, and then it seemed like they were working against each other … keep reading to find out the real story! _

 

**_Q:_ ** _ Good morning Chuu, it’s nice to meet you! Again! _

**_A:_ ** _ (laughs) Yes, now that we’ve properly been introduced! _

 

**_Q:_ ** _ We all had no idea who you were up until recently. Was that an intentional decision? _

**_A:_ ** _ Well, I’ve been doing what I can to fight crime for a while now, but I didn’t really get recognized up until recently. I guess that’s why the public never really got a name till now. _

 

**_Q:_ ** _ A selfless hero, I love it! Now, let’s get down to the real questions: were you assisting Tawny with that bank robbery?! _

**_A:_ ** _ Absolutely not! I showed up to try and stop her, but I guess it didn’t work too well. _

 

**_Q:_ ** _ But she did help you fight against the Creepy Crawler? _

**_A:_ ** _ Yes, she was the one who showed up that time. I didn’t expect it at all. _

 

**_Q:_ ** _ And then, the infamous second explosion? _

**_A:_ ** _ Well, like I told the cops, we fought and I almost had her, but she got away at the last second. _

 

**_Q:_ ** _ Dramatic! Tawny hasn’t been spotted since that night. Do you think she’s hiding from you? _

**_A:_ ** _ (laughs) She’s probably just taking a break. I think I got her a little bit shook up. But I don’t think you’ve seen the last of her … or us. (winks) _


End file.
